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So just about a year ago I wrote a blog entry extolling the greatness of Mattel’s DC Universe Classic 6" action figure line, and favorably compared it to Kenner’s Super Powers line. Since then, things have only gotten better for this line.

First, though, I want to address a few comments left after my last blog, about why I’m no longer buying Hasbro products. The key line people are over looking is this: "I just cannot support a company that mishandles so many lines when I’m feeling lukewarm on toys in general." If Hasbro’s Marvel Legends were still $6 each, I’d probably pick up a few out of sheer inertia. But I’m pretty much tired of collecting toys (not tired of being interested in the toy industry) and there is nothing Hasbro is putting out that excites me enough to overcome my distaste for their mistakes.

On the other hand…yeah, Mattel has really been taking a long time working through that learning curve of being a player in the Boy’s Toys aisles. They’ve made pretty much every mistake you could imagine, and then some. And they really need to do something to fix the distribution issues, because they are losing sales that could help them at least a bit right now. But every time they reveal a new wave of DC Universe Classics it just thrills that long ago kid inside me that started collecting toys in the first place. Seriously, what other line has shown such a willingness to cater to a small group of fans than making two versions of the Parademon, an already fairly obscure background character? I can’t stress enough how much I’m willing to give the Four Horsemen the benefit of the doubt that they will drive this line to be the one to hold the standard to when all is said and done.

And the sheer number of new figures that are coming out means that we are that much closer to reproducing the entire line-up of Super Powers, something that hasn’t been done in over 20 years (although Marvel Legends still hasn’t managed to complete the Secret Wars line-up yet. Where’s Baron Zemo II? Constrictor? At least Kang finally got some love.) We are now only 10 figures short, only one full year into the line. And if the leaked Wal-Mart computer list is to be believed, we’ll be getting three more: Steppenwolf, Mantis, and Green Arrow. Three of the remaining characters are iffy due to rights issues (Samurai, Golden Pharaoh, and Cyclotron) but if I was Mattel I’d call in a few markers at DC and get them to feature three very similar characters in the an upcoming comic and go from there. Heck, I bet Mark Waid would love to write them into Brave and the Bold!

I’ll check in again in one more year to see if we’ve wrapped them up. The Horsemen have already made a good dent into the unmade Super Powers roster (Bizarro, Supergirl, Man-Bat, Metallo, Vigilante, Deathstroke, and Kid Flash. I’ll expect to see Creeper, Obsidian, and Blue Devil before too long…) and are tearing through the rest of the DCU, with many characters who have never had a figure before. Heck, they are almost near to completing the Super Friends roster as well! In any case, I would lay money on this year being the year I stop picking up toys in general. Except for DCUC, that is. They’ve got me until the end now.

That image up there is a thing of beauty. I hadn’t stopped to think how fast the 4 Horsemen were gaining on the Super Powers completion project. Heck, they’re already doing the unproduced figures! I never thought the Adrian Chase Vigilante would make the cut. Greg Saunders, yeah? But Chase? He’s been dead for twenty years now.

And if those two Parademons are any indication, I can imagine Tyr and the rest of Darkseid’s minions are on the way as well.

This is very exciting. Like many of us thirty-somethings and forty-somethings, I am a big fan of Super Powers Collection. What a welcome change for those of us who grew up with Mego! And now DCUC is making Super Powers all but obsolete.

There’s one small problem with your illustration. Number 33 is Tyr from the Super Powers line. Are you getting him confused with Despero? Pink skin? Mohawk? Or do you know something that we do not yet know about Tyr’s inclusion in DCUC?

I love DC universe. i love the line and want to support it. the only problem is i have only seen series 1. i will give up on it if i can’t find it. If your wondering i’am in canada and i haven’t seen anything up here. i really want these figures!!!!!!

My reply is that this is awesome, but I also want to address something else: Looking at the leaked walmart line: 12 bucks for the DCUC Figures? 7 Bucks for those tiny Infinite Heroes figures?

If that is the case, I’m done with the IH figures, and I’ll continue to get my other figures online at http://www.cornerstorecomics.com as they seem to be cheap. With me having a family, when figures go from 7.99, to 8.99, to 9.99, to almost 12 bucks, us consumers really start to feel it. It’s awesome that Mattel is bring us back to our childhoods, but I want my kid to enjoy these figures too. I’m committed to the JLA line, as those prices seem to hold stead, but I can’t be spending 100’s a month on action figures because Mattel/Walmart/Target think these toys that haven’t changed should suddenly be 2-4 dollars more a figure. They’ll be taking some people out of the picture.

But Jason, thanks for the kick butt updates, and all the throwback references. I just had to vent/rant

Also…DC/MATTEL IF YOU READ THIS: Give us a build a figure Doomsday and Darkseid. I want those figures a little more to scale, and they would be awesome. We’ve got Kalibak now, and he’ll be huge compared to Darkseid and Doomsday…so give us those guys in the tad bigger scale!

Hey, check it out: a fellow here in Brazil posted all the brazilian Super Powers companions comics for download. It is all in portuguese, but it’s very cool to see nonetheless – it even includes the very rare Cyborg comic. A few are missing, like Darkside, and it’s worth notice that many figures weren’t released over here ( Firestorm, Dr. Fate, Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter and others ).

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About Me:

Jason Geyer has been part of the online toy world for over 10 years, having founded some of the very first toy sites on the web including Raving Toy Maniac, ToyOtter, and now Action Figure Insider. He is also a former toy designer who is now a marketing genius. If he does say so himself. And he does.